


Start-Up

by seonhonik



Category: Start-Up (Korea TV)
Genre: F/M, Start-up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28161816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seonhonik/pseuds/seonhonik
Summary: Hi guys, this is a very short chapter! I'm very sorry.I started the chapter with Dal-mi and Do-san about to have a date (you know when she broke up with him with the line "You're not Do-san from the letters" yadda yadda. But I changed it. Hahaha!Yep, they already signed the contract with 2STO.
Relationships: Han Ji Pyeong/Nam Do San/Seo Dal Mi, Han Ji Pyeong/Seo Dal Mi, Nam Do San/Seo Dal Mi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. The beginning of the end

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, this is a very short chapter! I'm very sorry. 
> 
> I started the chapter with Dal-mi and Do-san about to have a date (you know when she broke up with him with the line "You're not Do-san from the letters" yadda yadda. But I changed it. Hahaha!  
> Yep, they already signed the contract with 2STO.

“Ughhhh,” Dal-mi groaned as she rolled onto her side, tapping the side of her bed to locate her phone. She immediately regretted setting the alarm way too early. Her eyes were still shut as she continuously searched for her phone with her hands. 

“All right, all right!” she said, exasperated. “I’m getting up!”, yelling to herself. Kicking her blanket off her legs, prying her eyes open as she got up.  


She felt a massive headache coming on. Just thinking about what she would do today, her gut was telling her that she would regret this.  


_No, I haven’t regretted any of my choices. I shouldn’t regret this. I must not! _She said to herself.__

__After talking to Mr. Han over noodles the night before, she made up her mind that if there was no SamSan tech by her side, she would still push through with her plans. No stopping now as her future is at stake here.  
_ _

__She hastily prepared as she was meeting Do San for lunch. She put on her blue dress on top of her cream long sleeves. She dabbed her face with make-up, put on a lot of perfume and wore high heels just to pretend that everything was fine. But apparently, it wasn’t.  
_ _

__“Seriously, I don’t even know why I’m doing this,” she muttered to herself.  
_ _

__She took a bus ride to reach Do San’s place. The sun shone brightly today but she felt all gloomy deep down. Everything was just a facade to hide what was going on underneath. Her head was still throbbing from thinking too much.  
_ _

__“Oh!,” Do-san exclaimed as soon as he saw Dal-mi standing in front of her. He clung to his backpack strap as he stood there, looking puzzled.__

__She noticed a few wounds on his face but Ji-pyeong had it worst. She didn’t want to bring it up, afraid of what the outcome would be. A flashback of smashing the name plate of In Jae’s dad suddenly crossed her mind. She immediately brushed away the memory, flinching.  
_ _

__“Hi! Surprise”, she feigned enthusiasm as she greeted Do San. “Um, I booked us some place to eat,” she said meekly.  
_ _

__“Are we having a date?” he asked, uninterested. He closed the gate and joined Dal-mi.__

__They headed straight to the bus stop. Tension was already filling the air. They weren’t even talking to each other as they walk side by side. He tried to reach for Dal-mi’s hand, but she adjusted the strap of her bag and just held it as she trudged.  
_ _

__Her phone chimed in as soon as they were about to board the bus. “Oh. It’s Ms. Yoon,” she muttered under her breath. Do-san quickly glanced quickly at her phone with displeased look plastered on his face.  
_ _

__“Why is she-“, he got cut off when Dal-mi already answered the phone. They already missed the bus.  
_ _

__“Good morning, Ms. Yoon. How can I help you?” she answered worriedly.  
_ _

__“Hi, Ms. Seo. It’s urgent. We hope that your team can go to Sandbox as soon as possible. We need to discuss a few things,” Ms. Yoon replied.  
_ _

__“All right, we’ll be there, Ms. Yoon. In about 30 minutes,” Dal-mi said on the other line. Her heart was beating so fast against her chest.__

_What is this all about? What now? What happened? This is the first time she received a phone call from Ms. Yoon._

__She already sensed that something bad was going to happen.  
_ _

__She turned to Do-san, her face looking all serious. “Ms. Yoon asked us to go to Sandbox. Can you call Yong-san and Chul-san to meet us there? I’ve got to call Sa-ha,” she said, glancing down on her phone.  
_ _

__“Huh? Why? What happened?” Do-san asked, getting his phone from his pocket. Already dialing Chul-san’s number.  
_ _

__“I dunno,” she replied, almost annoyed by Do-san's questions. “But it must be serious.”_ _


	2. The Reveal

Upon entering Sandbox, Dal-mi made a beeline to Ms. Yoon’s office. She held her phone firmly, debating on whether to give Mr. Han a call or not. She wasn’t sure why they were being summoned. Since their residency program ended, there was no point of Mr. Han giving her a call. After the cold shoulder she had given him these past few days, no wonder he had been acting so aloof. He must have been busy, she thought to herself.  


Everyone knew what happened to their contract signing with 2STO. She tried to wrack her brain for other reasons why they were called. She knew deep down that it wasn’t because of that. It was already a done deal. She willed herself not to get her hopes up.  


Do-san grabbed Dal-mi by the elbow to slow her down. “Can you slow down?” catching his breath. They were three doors away from Ms. Yoon’s office.  


Dal-mi ignored him, moving her arm away from Do-san’s grip. “Where’s the rest of the guys? Let’s get inside, Sa-ha just pulled into the parking lot. She’ll be here in a few minutes. I already talked to her,” she said, ready to get going. She felt so stupid for acting so irrational and reckless because of Do-san. If it weren’t for him, she’d still be CEO.  


_Haven’t you learned anything Dal-mi? All those questions you have asked Mr. Han. You threw the answers away like they didn’t mean anything and just agree with Do-san all the time. How could you be so naïve?  
_

“They’re on their way,” he replied, letting out a sigh as he looked up. “What could this be about? Why are you acting so different? Did I do something wrong?”  


She just frowned. “I don’t know, really. Let’s not talk about this right now,” she muttered.  


As soon as they got inside Ms. Yoon’s office, they immediately bowed before sitting down. “Hello, Ms. Yoon. Sorry to keep you waiting.”  


“It’s alright,” Ms. Yoon replied, sipping her coffee. “We’ll wait for the rest of your team because this is an important matter.”  


Dal-mi looked down and nodded meekly. Do-san glanced at her. He was getting anxious as minutes passed by. He kept on shaking his leg, clenching and unclenching his fists under the table.  


The rest of SamSan tech arrived, sitting promptly.  


“So,” Ms. Yoon started. “Our security team caught something on tape. I should have called you all sooner, but I can’t let anyone handle this.”  
“As you all know, you’re still inside Sandbox premises. Displaying inappropriate behavior can cause some serious ramifications on your company and future investors… well, in your future, too,” she continued, looking at everyone. “I understand that you already have signed the contract with 2STO. According to Alex, they might cancel your employment.”  


Everyone exchanged confused looks to one another except from Do-san and Yong-san.  


Chul-san blurted out, “What?”  


Do-san, who was already sweating even though they were inside an air-conditioned room, he knew what was about to happen, but he remained frozen on his seat.  


“Mr. Kim,” Ms. Yoon said in a stern voice.  


Do-san let out a sigh of relief.  


“Y-yes?” Yong-san stuttered, tears welling up in his eyes.  


“I heard you were blaming one of the mentors here on Sandbox on your brother’s death. We understand how you feel. We sincerely apologize,” Ms. Yoon said, pursing her lips together.  


“However, throwing a lot of questions during demo day is essential for investors. It’s even more harsh in the corporate world. I hope you knew that. We are just doing our job. What happened with your brother is out of our control,” Ms. Yoon explained. “We’re very sorry.”  


Yong-san stayed frozen on his seat. Ms. Yoon turned on the TV and a footage of Yong-san and Ji-Pyeong appeared on the screen. She pressed play and all of them watched in silence. They all saw Yong-san pushing Ji-Pyeong over the elevator wall. His fist ready to throw a punch to Ji-Pyeong’s face if it weren’t for the elevator door bursting open.  


They were all quiet.  


“I have another footage to show but I’m afraid it’s too… intense,” Ms. Yoon told them with a grimace.  


“Mr. Nam?” she called. “Care to explain why you beat up Mr. Han?”  


Dal-mi quickly threw a glance at Do-san, her mouth was hanging open. She was breathing heavily and her eyes darting up and down as if sizing Do-san up.  


“You did what?” Dal-mi exclaimed incredulously.  


“I-I… He was-he was...” Do-san said, stuttering. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He knew why he beat him up. For him, telling the harsh truth in Dal-mi's face was indeed wrong. 

Dal-mi just stared at him, her brows furrowed in annoyance and anger.  


"Your employment contract with 2STO is still under review. I regret to inform you all but your company can no longer participate in Sandbox for the next residency programs nor use your company name to promote your software or application. Mr. Nam and Mr. Kim are the only ones who are blacklisted. Both of you aren't permitted to join any startup programs for 3 years. Your company is dissolved whether or not you won the residency program," Ms. Yoon told them. Disappointment was written all over her face. "Based on what you both did, Mr. Han could have pressed charges." 

***

"Dal-mi, please let me explain," Do-san begged as he ran after Dal-mi. "Dal-mi! Please!" he exclaimed, causing a few glances from people passing by. 

Dal-mi stopped on her tracks and turned around. "What?" Her tone was full of disdain. She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Clenching her fists, her nails were digging up on her palm. She could feel the rage bottling up insider her as she heard Do-san's footsteps nearing towards her. 

"Hey, please, please listen to me. Wh-what you saw—that's not what really happened. It's not my fault!" he exclaimed. His eyes were trying desperately to meet Dal-mi's gaze. "Please, you have to believe me. He set me up." 

Dal-mi dug into her bag and pulled out Do-san's baseball. She grabbed Do-san's hand and firmly placed it on his palm. "I've been meaning to give this to you." 

Do-san looked down on his hand, tears were streaming down on his face. "Why are you giving this back?" he cried out. 

Dal-mi sighed. She was tired of explaining, crying and getting mad. Do-san straight out lied to her face again. She didn't want to deal with this anymore. She was done. No amount of apologies can replace what she was experiencing. She trusted him. She put her future on the line for the reason that she had faith in him. Everything was a mess. "Sorry but... You're not the Do-san from the letters," she said, raising her head and meeting Do-san's gaze. 

And then she left, not looking back.

**Author's Note:**

> Lemme know your thoughts!!! Leave a comment or hit me up on twitter @seonhobeams.
> 
> Thank you <3


End file.
